Timeless
by Hawklan
Summary: Xander's luck was never the best and now he has to confront a whole empire.
1. Chapter 1

Timeless

Author: Hawklan

Summary: Xander's luck was never the best and now he has to confront a whole empire.

Disclaimer: Xander and everything from his verse belongs to Joss Whedon and co and Star Wars now belongs to Disney.

Note: Damn I haven't written anything since December 2012 and instead of working on my existing stuff my muse directed me to another new fic. I hope you will enjoy it, but I make no promises in regards to new chapters, much of my time is taken by my newborn son. Just ask Razial how rare I have made myself since January the 13th :)

Note2: Thank you to Inachis for betareading my work again and damn...I have written this chapter in May and now it's nearly October...so here you go.

Chapter 1

After nearly two days in deep meditation I opened my eyes again. The Force had just showed me that my exile here on Tatooine was coming to an end in the near future. I had really enjoyed my quiet life on this little dustball for the last couple of years, but now the Force was pulling me back into what was happening in this galaxy I ended up all those years ago when I saved Buffy's live by tackling Angelus and stumbling through that damn portal with him. Luckily it seemed we didn't arrive in the same place, but that was all ancient history by now. I stood up to get to the cantina to meet with Bib Fortuna, a lackey of Jabba the Hutt's with whom I mostly dealt.

Pulling up the hood of my black cloak and putting on my mask I left the small house I lived in and using my old but trusty speeder bike I rode to Mos Eisley and quickly entered the cantina. I quickly chose a small table from which I could see most of the room. While I took in my surroundings I didn't have to wait long until the pale Twi'lek entered through one of the many doors.

Jabba's flunkie looked around and after noticing me at my table, he came over. "My master sends his regards, Hunter," Bib Fortuna said in a hushed voice.

That was the name I was known around here by. I earned it during the self-imposed exile I had been spending here for quite a while now and I've never actually mentioned my real name to anyone. Around a decade or two ago, when I had hunted my first dragon and brought the loot to Jabba's palace to sell, he made inquiries about me amongst the Tusken Raiders around the area I hunted for the most part. All they told him was that I was the Black Hunter of the deep Desert and that nobody and no place was safe from me if I decided to come for them. The bodies I left behind over the years told enough of my story. Jabba just shortened it to Hunter.

"Well, make sure to give him my best whishes in return," I replied and then took the pack he brought for me, opened the top and casually gazed inside. "Everything here?"

"As you wished. My payment?" Bib replied.

Letting my senses flow through the cantina for a moment, I slid over a small pouch which the Twi'lek inspected. "Of course, I always enjoy doing business with your Master," I said.

His little sharpened teeth were bared as he inspected the content of the bag. "These are quite rare. My master will be pleased."

I nodded, knowing Jabba got a much better deal than me in this. But in the end I didn't care. Those pearls didn't cost me anything except some time and I had a few more of them besides. At least I got the stuff I ordered with no questions asked. "Tell your boss that this will be the last deal for a while. I have to leave Tatooine for a bit to do some personal business."

Bib looked at me and asked, "Any idea when you will be back? My Master won't like losing such a good business partner. And would you be open for a small job while you are away?"

I shook my head and replied, "Sorry Bib, maybe another time. As of yet my final destination is unknown, so I can't make any promises."

Having concluded our business Bib nodded at me, stood up and with a "Good hunting then," he left the cantina quickly followed by two of Jabba's Gamorean guards.

After I drowned the last of my drink, I stood up as well and left the cantina. Outside I noted the increased presence of imperial forces and it looked like they were searching for something. After an hour of evading them as much as possible I slipped into a fresher and dumped the robe I was currently wearing. Inspecting myself in the mirror I made some adjustments on the body armor I wore underneath the robe. After I was satisfied with it, I pulled the attached hood up and made sure that it would lie lightly across the upper half of my face. The cloth was diming what I could see through it for the most part, but visualizing my surroundings hasn't been an issue for quite a long time.

Studying my reflection I smiled and mumbled to myself, "Welcome back, Master Harris."

Now I took the time to get the stuff Bib brought me out of the bag and luckily he was as good as his word. Everything in the pack was like I ordered it. The utility belt, holster and blaster fit perfectly, not even bouncing a bit, and the other materials I requested were in their own little case and top of the line stuff. I grinned, shouldered the bag and then went where the Force was directing me to.

A short moment after one of the imperial patrols stopped me to ask me some questions and I had used an identichip that said I was a registered Imperial bounty hunter, I reached the entrance to a docking bay. I waited there for a while until I sensed a Force sensitive kid and an older man I recognized as Obi-Wan Kenobi running towards me with several imperial soldiers on their heels. As they reached my position I threw one of the Thermal Detonators I got from Bib into the group of soldiers. Without watching the result I hurried behind the two and we quickly entered the docking bay.

"Who are you?" the boy asked as I closed the door behind us.

I ignored him and looked at the older man. 'We have much to discuss, Obi-Wan Kenobi, but for now we have to get to safety.'

His brows lifted in surprise at my telepathic sending, but then heI quickly nodded in response.

"Wait," the boy said. "Who are you? You just can't invite yourself along."

Obi-Wan lifted his hand to silence the boy and said, "I suspect he is a friend."

We hurried over to the pilot who was waiting at the bottom of the boarding ramp to an old Corellian Light Cruiser. When he saw what I did and heard the resulting explosion, he didn't waste any time. He turned around and ran into the ship yelling, "Chewie, get us out of here right now!"

As soon as Kenobi closed the ramp behind us the ship was off the ground. We found our way to the main hold. Looking around I noticed the lounging area with a table and chess set built in. That was as good of a place to meditate as any other, but that was for later.

The boy spun around and confronted me again, "So who are you?"

Ignoring him again I said aloud this time. "Master Kenobi, can't you control your boy?"

Before Kenobi could answer the boy said, pointing to my mask, "My name is Luke, not Boy, and how can you even see through that thing?"

My mask appeared to be a solid black mask with no eye slits in it but I could in fact see quite well through it. "There are other ways to perceive the world around you, young man," I said.

"Other ways? You mean with the Force?" Luke wanted to know.

Astonished, I looked at the young man "You haven't been trained at all, have you?"

"No. I just found out about my father yesterday," he replied while his cheeks reddened.

"Your father was a Jedi?" I asked, interested.

"Yes, one of the best, he was Anakin Skywalker. You've heard of him?" the young man replied.

My breath caught in my chest as I heard that name. "What the fuck. You're Anakin's son? Of course you are. This explains so much."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the boy wanted to know.

"It explains why you're on this rock of a planet and why Obi-Wan was here in exile and why you're with him. What it doesn't explain is why you're not finishing your training instead of just starting it," I said with a raised eyebrow in Kenobi's direction.

Obi-Wan finally decided to enter our conversation. "He lived with his uncle and aunt who didn't want him to be trained. I've had very little time to instruct him so far."

I looked at him in astonishment. "And now you're throwing him right into lightsaber combat with drones? Did you learn nothing from your last apprentice?" I asked, pointing at the drone he held in his hand.

Luke looked back and forth between us. "Who was your last apprentice and what's this guy talking about?"

With frustration I turned to Obi-Wan again. "He knows nothing about the Force and nothing about his parents? Really?"

"My father was a great Jedi and pilot," the boy complained.

"Luke," Obi-Wan said in a warning tone. "I hardly think now is the time to talk about his past, which you seem oddly aware of. Not many people are these days."

"I remember everything," I said in a saddened tone and it wasn't an exaggeration. I couldn't forget a single moment of my life from the time I was stranded in this universe to the present. Somehow I gained an edict memory as I arrived in this universe from my old hometown Sunnydale and you can believe me that most of the time this is a real curse.

"And I don't know who you are, yet you seem very familiar," the old Jedi continued.

My instincts told me to conceal my identity through misdirection like I had for an eternity, but that time was already past. This was the reason I was here after all. "Jedi Master Alexander Harris," I replied after a moment.

Obi-Wan sat down into one of the chairs with his mouth open and his eyes fairly wide in shock. "I thought you were a myth," he mumbled.

At just that moment the smuggler entered the area, saying, "If anyone is interested, I left behind an Imperial Star Destroyer hot on our tail, as promised, and we are on our way to Alderaan now."

Ignoring the smuggler for now Obi-Wan said, "History has you listed as one of the Jedi dying at the time of the battle against the Sith Empire at the side of Revan and Balista, if I'm not mistaken."

"History was wrong as you can see," I replied with a smirk. "I'm still quite alive and intend to keep it this way for a while longer."

"Revan?" the smuggler asked. "Wasn't that ten thousand years ago?"

"Revan?" Luke said in shock. "As in the Dark Lord Revan and you're a ten thousand years old?"

"More like twenty thousand, but who counts after a millennium or two?" I countered. "Now sit down and meditate. Jedi have to be constantly in control of their emotions, because if they are not, then those emotions turn into your…"

"Master Harris," Obi-Wan said rather loudly, cutting me off. "Luke, put away your lightsaber and sit down. Perhaps we should begin where all Jedi do."

Hours passed while Luke and Kenobi meditated and I worked on the tiny circuits and inspected the pieces Bib gave me to make sure they were up to my standards, which they luckily were. I should have done all the work myself as is customary for a Jedi, but the Force didn't leave me any time to gather all the materials for it.

Pulling out a dragon pearl, I watched as Luke stared at it mystified and Kenobi said "That is a very expensive focusing crystal."

I nodded and replied, "But you can't find any better."

The smuggler looked at me and said. "Why did you just destroy a stone that is worth a small fortune?"

Using the Force I levitated every piece on the table up in front of me. "What do I need credits for if I can't defend them from those that would seek to take them away from me?" I said to the smuggler.

"You're making a lightsaber," Luke exclaimed when he saw what I was doing while talking to the smuggler.

"Whoa," the smuggler said as he warily backed away.

Bringing all the pieces together I poured the Force energies into them to fuse the seams and purify the pearl shards. Just as I finished a tremor in the Force made itself known. Darkness, billions screaming out as one in terrible pain across space itself, as their lives were extinguished all at once.

Luckily I was already sitting or I would have staggered like Obi-Wan did.

"Ben?" Luke asked concerned.

Obi-Wan looked at me, probably to see if I experienced it too. I just nodded.

"Continue your meditating, Luke. I have to talk with Master Harris," Obi – Wan said.

When I met Obi-Wan in the corridor he raised his eyebrows at me. "So what do you think? And stop calling Luke a boy, he is hardly a child anymore," Kenobi said.

"To me, all of you are children playing with dangerous toys. Even the Emperor, thinking this new weapon of his is anything compared to the power of the Force."

"So you think it's a new super weapon as well?" Kenobi asked.

"It has to be," I confirmed. "It had none of the feel of what the Sith Emperor did to his homeworld when he sucked the life-force out of every living thing on the planet."

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed at me. "You're really that old?"

"You didn't believe me before?" I asked.

"You have to admit, there aren't very many life forms that can admit to living a thousand years, much less twenty thousand, and yet you look barely a year older than Luke," Kenobi replied.

"Now that you mention it, why haven't you told him about his father?"

"It would crush his spirit, knowing that the man behind Vader's mask is related to him, much less sired him."

I thought about that for a moment and then had to give him the point. "Then again it might give him focus. He has nothing to drive him other than adventure. You do realize he yearns for this?"

"I had hoped I would have time to temper that, but the closer we get to Alderaan, the more I feel like my time is running out," Kenobi said with a sigh.

"If he continues on this path he'll become another Vader, and this time without the limits the cybernetic implants have on a Sith apprentice," I mused.

"If I fall, will you take on his training for me?" he asked me after a moment.

"If the time comes, I'll make my decision then. Don't go getting yourself killed acting stupid, Obi-Wan. The boy deserves better." I said, not really planning on teaching the son of Darth Vader.

He nodded and before he could say anything more, we felt the typical sign of dropping out of Hyperspace. Then several bumps against the ship's hull and then loud cursing out of the cockpit. "Sithspit…Where did that asteroid field come from?" we heard the smuggler cuss.

Just as we reached the cockpit and saw what remained of our destination a couple of Tie-Fighters passed us and rushed away. Without a word from us the smuggler engaged his engines and followed them. As soon as we could see where they were leading us, I yelled. "Damn…Get us out of here!"

But it was already too late for that.


	2. Chapter 2

Note: Thank you to Inachis for beta reading this chapter.

Chapter 2

(One of the many hangars of the Death Star)

"Damn, this is really one hunk of space junk," one of the two Imperial Officers said to his fellow officer, while a squad of Stormtroopers was searching every room in the ship their tractor beam had pulled in.

Not knowing that he stood directly over one of the smuggler compartments where the crew and passengers were hidden, the other replied. "Yes, the pilot and the crew of this scrap yard candidate are either stupid without end or have guts like a rancor for going into space in this thing."

Before the other could say anything more, the squad of troopers returned. They all saluted before their superiors and one of them said, "Sir? The ship is empty, no one is on board anymore."

"What? How can that be?" the officer asked.

"The log files indicated that an escape pod was jettisoned shortly before the ship entered hyperspace in the Tatooine system, Sir," the trooper replied.

Vader, who had followed a feeling into the hangar, stared at the ship, barely listening to the conversation of the troops. He could feel an odd tremor in the force, something he had not felt in a very long time. "I feel something, no he can't be here," he mumbled aloud.

"Sir?" the officer asked, wondering if he should say anything or not.

"None of your concern, Captain. Continue as you see fit and if anyone is found aboard, make sure you inform me personally before anyone else or you will not live to regret disobeying me," Vader warned him before he turned and stormed out of the hangar to see Tarkin.

The officer shivered in alarm before he nodded at that and then said, while pointing at two of the troopers. "You two stand guard here. I will send a scanner crew down shortly." With that they left the ship and then the hangar while two of the troopers took their guard positions at the end of the ramp.

+T+

(Inside the Falcon)

Xander concentrated on his force senses for a moment and not feeling any other life signs besides their own, he slowly lifted the cover of the compartment and then quietly jumped out. Using the force again he lifted the covers of the other compartments. Staring directly into the barrel of the pilot's blaster, he smiled and said in a low voice, "All clear for now, but I guess we don't have too much time."

"Yes, and that asshole of an officer has even less. A candidate for the scrap yard? I will show him who is a candidate for the scrapper," the pilot cursed quietly while climbing out.

As Luke climbed out, he looked at Han and said, "Boy, it's lucky you had these compartments."

Han smiled at the young farm boy before him and replied, "I use them for smuggling. I never thought I'd be smuggling myself in them. This is ridiculous. Even if we could take off, we'd never get past the tractor beam."

"Leave that to us," Xander and Ben said at the same time before Ben became distracted as he sensed an all too brief presence in the force, one he had not felt since Mustafa. He glanced at Xander and noted he looked grimmer than normal, showing that he too had felt it. Vader was on this station, which meant a confrontation was to be expected as he doubted his former friend and student had not felt his presence.

Ignoring the warning he felt in the force at that moment as it concerned no one but him and Ben, Xander focused on his force senses which told him Vader had left the hangar, leaving only normal soldiers who were easier to deal with. He felt two of them were heading inside the ship and so he said, "Quickly now, someone is coming."

They quickly hid themselves so that the ones coming aboard wouldn't see them directly and once again Xander was happy about the skill to hide his own force presence. If Vader would have sensed two Jedi on this station, he would be ripping this ship apart piece by piece.

In the meantime some crewmen were carrying a heavy box and shortly stopped at the ramp with the two Stormtroopers guarding either side of the ramp.

"The ship's all yours. If the scanners pick up anything, report it immediately," the left trooper said.

The crewmen nodded and then walked up the ramp into the ship. A short moment later the guards heard a loud crashing sound, but before they could do anything a voice inside the ship called, "Hey down there, could you give us a hand with this?"

As the Stormtroopers entered the ship Han pointed his blaster at them, but before he could fire, both troopers were thrown headfirst into the wall hard enough that they went down even with their helmets on.

Xander smiled at Han and said, "A blaster hole in the armor would have made it useless. Strip them and then you and the kid pull the armor on."

While starting to get the armor off the troopers, Han said, "Good Idea, but what about the old man, Chewie and you?"

"Obi-Wan and I have the Force and your Wookiee friend can act as your prisoner. Now quickly before someone gets suspicions because of the missing guards," Xander answered.

And as if someone had heard Xander, a gantry officer in a very small command office near the entrance to the hangar looked out the window that showed the hangar and noticed that the guards were missing.

He pulled his comlink out of a pocket in his uniform and said, "TX-four-one-two. Why aren't you at your post? TX-four-one-two, do you copy?"

A moment before he was going to sound the alarm a Stormtrooper came down the ramp of the ship and waved to him, pointing at his ear indicating that his comlink wasn't working. The gantry officer shook his head in disgust over such incompetence and then he headed for the door, while giving his aide an annoyed look. "Take over. We've got a bad transmitter. I'll see what I can do."

As the officer approached the door, it opened and revealed a towering Wookiee. The gantry officer, in a momentary state of shock, stumbled backward. With a bone chilling howl, the giant Wookiee jumped into the room and threw the officer with one heavy blow into the next wall. The force behind the blow was so hard you heard the cracking of the officer's skull.

The aide immediately reached for his pistol, but before he could use it, a lightsaber flew through the room and pierced his heart, killing him instantly.

Han, dressed as an Imperial Stormtrooper, turned his head to Xander. "Nice throw, but I still favor my blaster."

"I think the howling of Chewbacca was loud enough, we didn't need the sound of blaster fire as well," Xander smiled while pulling his saber back to him.

"We found the computer outlet, sir," the golden protocol droid said.

While Ben was feeding some information into the computer and then studied a map of the station, R2 started to whistle wildly.

As all were looking at the droids, C3PO said, "He says he's found the main computer to power the tractor beam that's holding the ship. He'll try to mark the precise location on the monitor."

Ben and Xander studied the data on the monitor's readout and Ben said, "I don't think you boys can help. Xander and I will disable it."

"I want to go with you," Luke said in a whiny tone.

"Be patient, Luke. Stay and watch over the droids. They must be delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan," Obi-Wan told his young student.

"But..," Luke started to say but was interrupted by an annoyed Xander. "Stop whining and listen to your master, kid." 'Damn, was I this annoying all those ages ago with Giles?' Xander thought to himself. 'Nah…G-Man loved me….I'm sure…'

While Luke glared at Xander, Obi-Wan and Xander silently stepped out of the command office and then they both disappeared down a long grey hallway.

Chewbacca barked a comment and Han nodded in agreement. Before Luke could say anything more R2 began to whistle and beep a blue streak.

Luke quickly went over to him and asked, "What is it?"

"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, sir. He says "I found her", and keeps repeating, "She's here," C3PO replied.

"Who has he found?" Luke quickly asked and R2 whistled a frantic reply.

"Princess Leia," the droid translated for his partner.

+T+

Several Imperial officers were walking through the wide main passageway. They passed several Stormtroopers and droids similar to C3PO, but with an insect face. At the far end of the hallway, a passing flash of Xander and Ben Kenobi appeared and then disappeared down a small hallway. Their appearance is so fleeting that it was hard to tell if they were real or just an illusion and no one in the hallway seemed to notice the two Jedi as they hurried to their destination.

+T+

(Conference room somewhere inside the Death Star)

Darth Vader was pacing the room while Governor Tarkin sat at the far end of the conference table.

Tarkin watched the former Jedi with amusement and was quite pleased with the turn of events. The events around Vader's 'secret' apprentice had the Dark Lord fall quite a bit in the Emperors favor and now he, Governor Tarkin, was second in command of the whole Galactic Empire. A place he intended to keep by all means and so he was already thinking about how to get rid of Vader completely, before he could get back in favor with the Emperor.

Suddenly his musings were interrupted by Vader's voice saying, "He is here."

"Who?" Tarkin asked

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, my old Master," was Vader's simple reply.

"What makes you think so?" Tarkin wanted to know, remembering the times he had met the Jedi Master before Order 66 was issued by the then still Councilor Palpatine, who was now the Emperor.

"A tremor in the Force. The last time I felt it was in the presence of my old master," Vader replied, not quite sure how he felt about this twist.

He had always suspected he would meet Obi-Wan again one day and he was sure that he would finally have his revenge for what the old Jedi did to him on Mustafa, that he would finally make the old man pay for the agony of having his feet and remaining hand cut off before being burned alive. He still remembered the agonizing pain as the lava ignited his body, oh how he had wished to make his former friend feel the same pain.

But a small part of him reminded him he had ignored all the warnings, not just from Obi-Wan, but from the Force as he made that final jump during their fight, so overcome by the darkside and his own anger that he had ignored everything. He had been too certain of his new power and so he had paid the price. The small part of him that remained Anakin Skywalker knew he deserved what had happened to him; this was the price for his sins, for participating in the destruction of the Jedi Order and the Republic. But the old anger quickly burned all that away. He would find Obi-Wan and he would pay the old man back for robbing him of his future as a powerful Sith Lord and not the crippled and broken thing he was now.

Being crippled was the beginning of his true fall in the Emperor's eyes. He was of no use to the man except for causing fear in the masses as a symbol of the Sith. The Emperor was always on the lookout for a new apprentice to replace him. The whole mess with Galen Marek had proven that. He remembered lying on the floor badly injured as the Emperor all but dared Galen to kill him and take his place. One day he would have his revenge on the Emperor as well for trying to discard him so easily and for daring to put this fool Tarkin in a position of power over him. All he had to do was to wait and to find the right apprentice who would not fail him like Galen had. But for now revenge on Obi-Wan would do. He ignored the whisper in his mind that sounded like his former self and focused on his hate and thirst for vengeance.

"Surely he must be dead by now," Tarkin said, cutting into Vader's thoughts. He was not looking forward to meeting that Jedi again, Obi-Wan had been overbearing and had a knack for getting in the way of things that were best left alone.

"Don't underestimate the power of the Force and what a Jedi can do with it," Vader replied in an ominous tone.

"The Jedi are extinct, their fire has gone out of the universe. You, my friend, are all that's left of their religion," Tarkin shot back, knowing it would anger the Sith Lord who could do nothing against him as he had the favor of the Emperor.

Vader shook his head over such stupidity. True a lot of Jedi where killed by the clone troopers who followed 'Order 66', but not all died then. Many escaped and went into hiding. A few of them he hunted down personally, while others were killed by his apprentice Galen, but there were still many unaccounted for. For example, they never found Master Yoda or Obi-Wan. Also, his former apprentice Asoka Tano was still unaccounted for and by the Force he would bet everything he still had that some of the other Jedi where still around as well.

His musings were interrupted by the quiet buzz on the comlink.

"Yes?" Tarkin answered the comlink.

"Governor Tarkin, we have an emergency alert in detention block A A-twenty-three," a voice replied.

"The princess! Put all sections on alert!" Tarkin barked into the com.

While Tarkin was on the com Vader quietly left the room; he had a long overdue reunion to attend.

+T+

(Tractor Beam Power Generator Trench)

The two Jedi entered the humming service trench that powered the huge tractor beam. The trench seemed to be a hundred miles deep and the clacking sounds of huge switching devices could be heard in the huge area.

The Jedi edged their way along a narrow ledge leading to a control panel that connected two large cables. While Xander watched the surroundings, Obi-Wan carefully made several adjustments on the computer terminal and several lights on the board went from red to blue.

Sensing someone approaching Xander warned Obi-Wan and both concealed themselves with force camouflage. A door behind Obi-Wan opened and a detachment of Stormtroopers marched into the room.

"Secure this area until the alert is canceled," an Officer said loudly to two troopers. "Give me regular reports," he added and then all but two Stormtroopers left again.

"Do you know what's going on?" the first trooper whispered.

"No, but maybe…" before he could finish his sentence he and his comrade were pushed by an invisible force over the ledge and both fell silently down the long trench.

Obi-Wan looked at Xander and asked, "Was that necessary? We could have slipped by them."

"And risk detection?" Xander replied. "No, they serve the Sith willingly and so they don't deserve our mercy. Those are two troopers less able to kill you and your friends."

"But…," Obi-Wan started to say but was interrupted by Xander. "Don't go Luke on me. Do you really want to discuss that now? We have to hurry."

+T+

(Near the hangar bay where the Falcon stands)

Luke, Han, Chewbacca, and Leia ran down an empty hallway and had stopped before a bay window overlooking the ship. Troopers were milling about the ship. While Luke took out his pocket comlink, Han said quietly, looking at his ship, "There she is."

While Luke spoke something into his com Han was watching the dozen or so troops moving in and out of his ship. Leia moved towards Han, touched his arm and pointed out the window to the ship.

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought," she said with a smile.

Han gave her a dirty look, but said nothing. Then they started off down the hallway. As they rounded a corner, they ran right into twenty Imperial Stormtroopers heading toward them. Both groups were taken by surprise and stopped in their tracks.

Overcoming his surprise one trooper shouted, "It's them! Blast them!"

Without thinking, Han drew his blaster and charged the troopers, firing. "Get back to the ship!" he yelled at Leia and Luke.

+T+

Xander and Obi-Wan hid in the shadows of a narrow passageway as several Stormtroopers rushed past them in the main hallway. Xander quickly checked to make sure they were gone and then the two ran down the hallway in the opposite direction. As Xander looked back he saw Darth Vader appear at the far end of the hallway.

+T+

A bit further away Han and Chewbacca ran down a long corridor with several troopers hot on their trail. One trooper yelled into his comlink, "Close the blast doors!"

The young star pilot and his old companion raced past the huge doors just as they were closing, and managed to get off a couple off blaster shots at the pursuing troops before the doors slammed shut.

"Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!" the same trooper from before yelled in his comlink.

+T+

Xander urged Obi-Wan to go faster and so they hurried along one of the tunnels leading to the hangar where the ship waited for them. Just before they reached the hangar Darth Vader stepped into view at the end of the tunnel, not even ten feet away.

Vader lit his saber and so did Xander and Obi-Wan. Once more face to face with Anakin, Obi-Wan felt the pain and loss of his old friend. Seeing the monstrosity he had become made it all the more painful. If only he had been a better teacher, a better friend, he might have seen what was happening and managed to put a stop to it. Maybe if Qui-Gon had lived none of what had happened would have happened. His old mentor would have not made the same mistakes he had made.

"I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete," Vader said, ignoring Xander for the moment. Seeing his old mentor, now an old man, his hatred of what the man had done to him dimmed before returning as he again remembered the agony of Mustafa.

Kenobi moved with elegant ease into a classical offensive position while the Dark Lord took a defensive stance.

The two warriors stood perfectly still for a few moments, sizing each other up and were waiting for the right moment.

Obi-Wan suddenly lunged at the huge warrior, but was checked by a lightning fast movement of the Sith. A masterful slashing stroke by Vader was blocked by the old Jedi and then another of the Jedi's blows was blocked, then countered. Obi-Wan moved around the Dark Lord and started backing into the massive starship hangar.

The two powerful warriors stood motionless for a few moments with lightsabers locked in mid-air, creating a low buzzing sound.

"Your powers are weak, old man," Vader taunted Obi-Wan knowing that was not necessarily true. He had seen old Jedi being just as deadly as their younger colleagues before.

"You can't win, Vader. Even if you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine," Obi-Wan replied, knowing this may be the end of his mortal life, but thanks to Yoda and the knowledge he had learned from Qui-Gon's spirit, he knew a secret that could ensure his death would not stop him from aiding Luke.

Their lightsabers continued to meet in combat while Xander kept a careful watch and was waiting for an opening to interfere.

Vader and Kenobi continued their powerful duel. As they hit their lightsabers together, lightning flashes on the impact of their blades.

The troopers in the hangar looked on in interest as the old Jedi and the Dark Lord of the Sith fought. For only two of the troopers it brought back memories of the clone wars, as they were some of the last survivors of the Jango Fett clones who had fought in it. These days there were little traces of the former glory of the grand army of the Republic which had become the forerunner of the army of the Galactic Empire. Nearly all the clones were either dead or retired and the army had become filled with normal everyday soldiers who considered the remaining clones below them. Seeing the Jedi and Sith fighting brought back memories of their glory days, days they missed more and more. Suddenly Luke spotted the battle from his group's vantage point.

"Look!" Luke shouted.

Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie looked up and saw Ben and Vader emerging from the hallway on the far side of the docking bay, followed by Master Harris who seemed to be only watching the duel at the moment.

While the troopers in the hangar now rushed toward the battling knights Han shouted, "Now's our chance! Go!"

They started for the Millennium Falcon and Kenobi noticed the troopers charging toward him. He realized that he and Xander were trapped.

Vader took advantage of Kenobi's momentary distraction and brought his lightsaber down on the old man. Kenobi managed to deflect the blow barely in time and swiftly turned around.

The old Jedi Knight looked over his shoulder at Luke, lifted his sword from Vader's and then watched his opponent with a serene look on his face.

Vader brought his sword down eagerly, thinking he was finally going to have his revenge, and was deflected by a yellow blade, preventing him from cutting old Kenobi in half, causing Vader to growl in anger at the interruption.

"Sorry, but I couldn't let that happen Anakin," Xander said with a smile, causing Vader to almost flinch at hearing himself be addressed by his former name. "It isn't yet the time for Kenobi to join the Force."

Before Kenobi or Vader could do anything, Xander lifted his other hand in the direction of the oncoming troopers from the hangar and suddenly the whole group was thrown through the hangar like puppets.

"Go now Obi-Wan, the kid needs you and we will met again. I have a bit to discuss with Anakin here before I leave as well," Xander said and with another push Kenobi was shoved into the hangar bay.

As soon as Obi-Wan was in the hangar Luke heard a telepathic voice in his head. He nodded into Master Harris direction and then fired his blaster at the door control panel, and it exploded. The door began to slide shut, shutting Master Harris and Vader out of the docking bay.

As Obi-Wan reached Luke he nodded at him, making Luke turn toward the ship, and they raced through the waiting hatch.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: My thanks to Razial for his contribution to this chapter and to Inachis for beta reading the chapter.

Chapter 3

(Corridor leading to the hangar bay with the Falcon, Death Star)

"Who are you?" Vader asked the Jedi before him, who had interfered in taking his revenge on Obi-Wan and was now standing in a guarding position. In his time as a Jedi Knight he had known quite a lot of the Jedi Order, but he had never seen this Jedi before and the smile the Jedi had on his face irritated him for some reason.

"Me? Oh I don't think you'll have heard of me before Anakin, but you can call me Master Harris," the Jedi replied with that damned smile.

At hearing that name Vader was, for probably the first time ever, lucky to wear his mask. If not, the Jedi before him would have seen how all color drained from his face. Being fascinated with old Sith and Jedi lore, he had studied quite a lot of ancient history over the years and in that endeavor he had read that name here and there and those tales always ended with a dead Sith, like Malak and others.

"This is impossible, you are human. How can you be still alive?" Vader asked.

"Ahh so the mighty Dark Dork of the Sith has heard of me? I'm flattered," the Jedi replied in a mocking tone. "So Anny, are you ready to surrender?" he asked.

Enraged, Vader overcame the bit of fear that had held him at hearing that name and he took a step forward, swinging his lightsaber in a direct stroke at the Jedi's head.

Smiling the Jedi didn't even raise his own lightsaber to defend himself, he simply sidestepped and evaded the attack. Stumbling a bit at not getting any resistance to his powerful stroke, Vader took a balancing step and then slashed at the Jedi again.

This time Xander blocked the attack with his mainhand saber and attacked Vader with his offhand saber, which he had just activated. Not having noticed the second saber before, Vader was a bit surprised and so was a bit off in evading the attack. He pulled his head away just in time, but felt how a bit of his helmet was cut off by the saber. Now the fight was on for good. On an attack from one of the two followed a parry from the other and so on, until after a while Vader got the impression that the Jedi was playing for time.

+T+

(Millennium Falcon Cockpit)

Han pulled back on the controls and the ship began to move and while the dull thud of blaster bolts bouncing off the outside of the ship, he said, "I hope those two Jedi got that tractor beam out of commission, or this will be a real short trip. Okay, hit it!"

The Millennium Falcon powered away from the Death Star docking bay and then disappeared into the vastness of space.

"We're coming up on some TIE's. Hold 'em off! Angle the deflector shields while I charge up the main guns," he yelled to his friend.

Han rushed into the lounge where Luke was sitting with the rescued princess and the old man.

"Come on, buddy, we're not out of this yet," Han said to Luke.

Solo rushed to the entrances of the gunports and pointed down and said, "You take this one, I take the other one." Without waiting on Luke he climbed into his attack position in the topside gunport.

After Han climbed up, Luke quickly climbed down the ladder into the gunport cockpit, settling into the seat of the cannon.

Han quickly put on his headset and then spoke into the attached microphone. "You in, kid? Okay, stay sharp."

Suddenly the TIE fighters moving towards the Millennium Falcon veered off to the left and right of the ship, firing laser beams as they passed.

While Han and Luke fought against the TIE's, Leia watched the computer readout as Chewbacca manipulated the ship's controls and said, "We've lost lateral controls."

"Don't worry, she'll hold together," Han replied over the com just as a laserbolt hit the ship's control panel, causing it to blow out in a shower of sparks.

Luke fired at a TIE fighter at his port and Han followed a fighter in his sights, releasing a shot and the fighter exploded into fiery dust.

Another TIE fighter moved in on the ship and Luke fired his laser cannon at it, scoring a direct hit. "Got him! I got him," he yelled.

"Great kid, but don't get cocky," Han yelled back.

A few minutes later they had taken down the last TIE's attacking them and only moments later they vanished into hyperspace.

+T+

"What are you trying to accomplish with this playing around Jedi?" Vader asked in an annoyed tone.

Xander smiled back at Vader, "Ohh not much Anakin, just keeping you busy until my friends got away. Which just happened." With that Xander attacked the Dark Lord and stopped in surprise at something you might be able to take as laughter coming out of Vader's mask.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you really think we couldn't have blasted the ship out of the universe if we had wanted to? This station has more than tractor beams. Tarkin only sent a few TIE's after them to make them think they had a 'near' escape," Vader replied with amusement in his voice.

"Damn… so you placed a homing beacon on the ship?" Xander said.

"Of course. The scanning crew we sent into the ship has hidden it," Vader said now in a mocking tone. "Do you really think we thought the ship empty? I knew Obi-Wan had felt me like I felt him."

"Damn, damn, damn…. I should have seen this coming. It was to easy, looks like I spent a bit too long on that damned dustball of a planet," Xander cursed.

"Indeed," Vader replied and attacked with new vigor.

They fought on for a while and while Vader couldn't land a hit, Xander had scored a few, though only damaging the Dark Lord's armor. Seeing several squads of Stormtroopers coming at them Xander cursed internally. 'Damn you Force…it would be much easier if you would have allowed me to kill this Sithspawn.'

Taking a deep breath he blocked Vader's next strike with his Cortosis alloyed left bracer, smiled at Vader and with a Force push he sent the Sith into the next wall. "I think it's time to haul jets now," Xander said and with those words ran down the only corridor that was still free from Stormtroopers. A moment before he turned around a corner he turned his head around and with a smile said, "Hasta la vista Baby!"

As soon as he was around the corner he used Force camouflage and hurried along. After he had gotten a few decks between himself, the Stormtroopers and Vader, he stopped and pulled his datapad out to check over the map of the station he had copied while Obi Wan was reading it. He chose a docking bay on the other side of the artificial moon and using all the tricks the Force gave him he reached it a while later without having to engage anyone.

Inside he only saw two ships that where obviously some kind of TIE Fighters, but of a type he had never seen before. Using his Force senses he noted that he was the only living being in the bay and so he snuck on the first ship.

+T+

(Death Star Control Room)

Vader strode into the control room, where Tarkin was already waiting for him. "Are they away?" Tarkin asked.

"They have just made the jump into hyperspace a few minutes ago," Vader replied.

"You're sure the homing beacon is secure aboard their ship? I'm taking an awful risk, Vader. This better work," Tarkin said and then added. "What is with the second Jedi that fought you? And damn you armor looks like quite a mess."

"It was just reported to me, that one of the new TIE Defenders is missing from hangar bay 'X'. So my guess is that he is in hyperspace by now as well," the Sith answered.

"Damn, that could ruin our plans if he reaches the others before us," Tarkin cursed.

+T+

(Millennium Falcon)

"Not a bad bit of rescuing, huh? You now, sometimes I even amaze myself," Han said smugly.

"They let us go. It's the only explanation for how easily we got away," Leia said in response to Han's boasting.

"Easy... you call that easy?" Han said, sounding a bit annoyed.

"I guess they're tracking us, but at least the information in R2 is still intact," Leia replied.

Han looked at her for a moment and the asked, "What's so important about that droid? What's he carrying?"

"The technical readouts of that battle station we just escaped from. I only hope that when the data is analyzed, a weakness can be found," Leia explained and stood up to find General Kenobi to talk with him about what they could do. There was still a bit of time until they would reach the Yavin system.

Before she got far the Falcon dropped out of hyperspace and nosedived towards the planet it had appeared over. Han let out a curse as he moved to grab the controls and pull the ship up while Chewbacca did his best to stabilize the engines which shorted on and off as they fell. Luke came rushing into the cockpit, Ben close behind.

"What the force is going on?" Ben inquired as he tried to fight off the many crashes he had gone through during the war with Anakin. He was reminded how nearly every time he got on a ship with his old friend they ended up crashing, and it seemed his son would cause him to suffer the same curse.

"Our engines must have been hit by one of the TIE-Fighters, we've dropped out of hyperspace and are rushing headlong to a crash," Han answered with a grimace. "Better strap yourselves in," he suggested.

"I don't believe this," Leia muttered under her breath as she took a seat and strapped in. She was concerned about how much a delay this would cause them and if they could bring the plans to that cursed station to the rebellion in time.

The Falcon struck the atmosphere hard, but Han managed to keep the ship on a controlled descent, knowing that if he didn't do that then it was more than likely the Falcon would be destroyed in the crash.

As it came in for the crash landing a lone shadow watched it come down from one of the tree's, her brow furrowed in confusion as this particular planet didn't get much in the way of visitors which was why she had chosen to live here in her exile. She frowned even deeper as she felt a sharp spike from the Force hit her senses.

Reaching out she scanned the vessel as it hit the ground and her frown got deeper as she sensed three familiar force signatures. But she knew it was impossible for it to be who it felt like to her as they were both dead. Everyone she had once known had been killed by the Empire, of that she was certain. This had to be some kind of imperial trap, somehow they had found out where she was hiding and now they'd come for her. Well, if it was them, she wasn't going to go quietly.

The Falcon hit the ground hard and scraped across the ground, leaving a meter wide trail behind it. The occupants were all thankful they were strapped in or more than likely they would have been thrown across the bridge at such speed that it would have probably killed them.

"We're down," Han said with a cough.

"Are we all alive?" Luke inquired as he rubbed his chest before unstrapping himself from his seat and slowly standing up.

"I think so," Leia said with a slight wince before she did the same.

"I hate flying," Ben mumbled, having multiple flashbacks to his many crashes with Anakin. He then unstrapped as well and stood up. "How's the ship?" he asked.

"Intact, but the engines need work before we can get to Yavin so you might as well take a small walk and see the sights while you can," Han answered as he checked the readouts on the board. "God damn imperial slimes," he cursed, hating seeing his ship take any damage.

Luke led them out of the cockpit and activated the ramp allowing them to descend onto the planet. They were met by the sight of a jungle to the left of them while to their right was a river. Clearly they had landed in the middle of bare patch of the jungle. Ben paused at the foot of the ramp as he sensed a familiar presence before it vanished as if the Force had hidden it.

"Is something wrong General Kenobi?" Leia inquired as she noticed his hesitation on the ramp.

"I'm fine Princess and please drop the General," Ben responded with a gentle smile. "The war has been over for years, I'm just old Ben Kenobi now," he said and tried not to wince at his own statement.

While they talked, Luke wandered off into the first line of trees. Guided by the Force without his knowing, he wandered deeper into the jungle until he came to a small stream near the third line of trees. The Shadow watched him from above, hid in one of the trees. She was frowning at the blond haired teen, who seemed very similar to her former friend and Master. Pulling her lightsaber she prepared to test this boy. If he was any relation to her former Master, then he would react to the attack. If not, then it had to be an imperial trap.

Luke barely had enough time to pull his lightsaber and turn to meet the sudden attack he felt coming through his growing connection to the Force. He was shocked to find himself face to face with a Togruta female also armed with a lightsaber. He was forced backwards as she pushed against his blade. His training was still in its beginning stages, but he felt the Force aid him in standing his ground. Finally he managed to push back before ducking and rolling away out of the woman's reach. The woman stared at him almost in shock.

For Ahsoka Tano it was almost like staring into the past, for in this youth's face she saw a lot of her former friend and Master. Especially his eyes, she was now more than convinced that the boy was related to Anakin. She felt his strength in the Force and while it was clear he had only begun to tap into his connection to the Force, his Force presence was almost equal to Anakin's. She attacked again, forcing the boy backwards, but while he retreated he met her strikes with his own defensive ones, aided by the Force. It was also clear he had only begun to train, but she wondered who was the one training him and hoped it was not a Sith or anyone connected to the Empire.

Ben jerked as he sensed Luke was in danger and quickly broke off his conversation with Leia and rushed into the jungle, leaving Leia stand there in surprise. He pulled his lightsaber, cursing himself for letting Luke wander off. But he came to a dead stop as he saw a sight that he barely could believe was real. Luke was fighting an unknown attacker, but the fact that the woman was a Togruta was what really shocked him. Reaching out with the Force his shock turned into complete disbelief as he felt a very familiar presence, one he had never expected to feel again. It brought back many memories of the clone wars, filled with his many adventures with Anakin and his Padawan, the young Togruta Ahsoka Tano. But he had been certain she had been killed during the purge. She had never passed the trials needed to become a true Jedi Knight, having chosen exile after she was framed by a fellow Jedi for something he could not quite remember anymore. Even after Anakin had proved her innocence, she had chosen not to remain in the order due to the way the council had so easily chosen to condemn her.

"Ahsoka stop!" he shouted as he watched Luke trip over a log as his attacker bared down on him.

Ahsoka came to a halt as she heard the familiar voice. Turning she saw a much older Obi-Wan Kenobi standing behind them with his lightsaber held loosely in his hands. She glanced back at the boy who was slowly standing back up, while rubbing his back, clearly in pain. Suddenly she felt a wave of desperate hope. If Obi-Wan was alive wasn't it possible Anakin was too? Especially if this boy was related to him.

"You're alive?" Ahsoka stammered, still in shock. "I thought you died during the purge," she stated as she shut her lightsaber off and walked towards him.

"I thought the same of you. It was a dark time and no offense, but I held little hope for you as you did not complete your training," Ben said with an apologetic smile.

"No thanks to the council," Ahsoka spat, still bitter over what she saw as her forced exile. She had always known that had she stayed in the order, the council would never trust her as they had before her framing. "Where is Anakin?" she demanded, suddenly switching tracks and she quickly noted how Ben paled. "This boy is connected to him so he has to be alive. Who is he Obi-Wan?" she asked, barely concealing her hope.

"Anakin is dead Ahsoka, of that I'm certain," Ben said softly, knowing his lie was going to hurt Ahsoka, but best a lie than the horrible truth. "Yoda and I saw his death through the temples security cam videos. He was helping to defend the temple against the clone attack when another Jedi snuck up on him and killed him with a direct strike to his heart. He was betrayed by this Jedi who now calls himself Darth Vader," he explained, watching as Ahsoka became devastated by the news, but forced himself to continue. She could never learn the truth, which would be a disaster for Ahsoka. She was far too much like Anakin and he suspected that if she knew the truth, she would rush off to confront Vader and end up either dead or worse, turned.

"No," Ahsoka whispered, feeling a renewed sense of loss at the confirmation of something she had only believed half-heartedly. But Obi-Wan's story basically confirmed that belief. She glanced back at the boy and noted he looked just as devastated by the news. "Who is he Obi-Wan?" she asked again, as she fought to control herself.

"He is Anakin's son, Luke," Ben answered, knowing he couldn't lie about this particular point when suddenly he realized he was in big trouble as Leia was also on the planet and if Ahsoka could sense Luke's connection to Anakin, then surely she would sense Leia's as well. He had to get her alone and ensure she realized how important it was that she didn't reveal the true nature of their relationship to one another just yet, neither of them were ready to learn they were twins.

"Anakin's son?" Ahsoka inquired before realization spread. "Padme," she said and glanced at Obi-Wan who just nodded.

"Is Padme my mother's name?" Luke asked, almost forgotten by the two Jedi.

"You haven't told him?" Ahsoka asked in growing anger as she realized the boy seemed not to know much of anything where his parents were concerned. But before she could say anything else or Ben could answer, someone came running into the clearing and Ahsoka was shocked once more as she stared at the young human female. Instantly she felt the connection through the Force between her and Anakin, but more to the point she felt the connection between her and Luke. She glanced between them all and noted Ben's panicked look. It quickly became clear that somehow the two young humans knew nothing of their true origins by the way they looked at one another. The girl looked concerned, but only so far as that of a friend. For some reason Obi-Wan was keeping the truth from them.

"Luke, are you okay?" Leia inquired as she looked him over, having finally decided to follow General Kenobi once she had gotten over her surprise at him running off.

"By the Force," Ahsoka whispered as she looked at the unknown woman and all but saw the reincarnation of Padme Amidala before her.

"I'm fine Leia, this woman knew my father and mother," Luke answered with a smile. "Ben seems to know her as well," he added.

"Ahsoka was a Jedi Padawan who failed to complete her training, through no fault of her own. She went into exile and I thought she died during the purge long ago," Ben informed them both, hoping Ahsoka would sense he didn't want her to expose the truth of Luke and Leia's true connection from the look in his eyes. "She was your father's Padawan and friend. She was also a friend to your mother Luke," he added.

"You haven't told them, have you?" Ahsoka demanded as he basically confirmed Luke and the girl he called Leia didn't know they were related. "They have no idea, do they?" she pushed as Luke and Leia exchanged confused looks.

"Ahsoka you can't," Ben tried to protest, already seeing what she intended to do, how angry she was that he had kept the truth from them. "They are not ready to know," he insisted.

"Er…know what?" Luke inquired while Leia narrowed her eyes, wondering what they were referring to.

"Ahsoka please, we can discuss this at another time," Ben started as Ahsoka continued to glare at him. "We are on an important mission that could turn the tide against the Empire. Our ship crash landed and we are waiting for the captain and his first mate to repair it," he informed her, hoping to distract her. "We could use your help, I'm certain the Rebellion would have a use for you," he added.

"What are you talking about?" Leia demanded to know, ignoring General Kenobi and staring at the woman he called Ahsoka. "What do we not know?" she asked in a tone very reminiscent of her real mother.

"Leia please, we do not have time for this," Ben insisted once again, noting Luke was looking more and more curious.

"Until that heap of junk is fixed, we aren't going anywhere," Leia responded. "Now talk," she ordered, turning back to Ahsoka.

Ahsoka saw a lot of Padme's feisty attitude in the girl, which convinced her that what she felt in the Force was real. She and the boy were not only siblings, but also twins and both were powerful in the Force. Although it was clear the girl was not even aware of this fact, but the bond between them, even unknown to them, was powerful and would grow as they got to know one another more. She wondered now though why they didn't know the truth. Why they had not grown up with each other? This made her angry all the more.

"You and Luke are related as in brother and sister," Ahsoka answered finally, causing Ben to go pale as she revealed the long held secret to the twins. "More than that you are twins, the son and daughter of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala," she stated as she glanced between the two now shell shocked youngsters.


	4. Chapter 4

Note: My thanks to Razial for his contribution to this chapter and to Inachis for fixing a lot of my errors : ).

Chapter 4

(Unnamed planet, near the crash site of the Falcon)

After hearing this shocking news Luke and Leia stared at one another in shock as they listened to the woman's answer. Neither had been prepared for how life changing the answer would be. Both suddenly realized this answered why they had instantly trusted one another so easily when they had first met.

Leia had instantly trusted the young man who had rushed into her cell claiming to be there to rescue her and that was unusual for her. While Luke had instantly trusted her to cover them during their escape attempt on the Death Star, he had thought nothing of giving her the blaster while he readied his grappler nor had he been concerned when she had taken charge of their escape. But the idea that they were twins shocked them right to the core. Neither Luke's uncle and aunt or Leia's adoptive parents had said anything about them having a sibling. Then both remember Ben's attempts to stop Ahsoka revealing this information to them and they both turned with angry eyes on to the old Jedi. Ben winced as he realized he was in deep trouble with all three of his companions.

"Is it true?" Luke demanded and for once all of his boyish nicety was gone. He sounded far more like his father when he was angry. In fact as Ben looked at Luke he almost saw Anakin staring back at him through his eyes. He all but cursed finding Ahsoka on this planet right at this moment in time.

"General, is it true?" Leia all but growled out as Ben hesitated too long in answering.

"Yes it is," Ben finally answered as he sat down on a nearby stump and wiped his brow, knowing this conversation was going to get heated. "You are twins and you are the children of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala," he told them, feeling more tired and old now than ever before. "It was decided between myself, Yoda and Bail Organa that your true identities and connections had to be hidden," he told them and Leia almost gasped in surprise, hearing her adoptive father had been a part of this. "You were born right at the end of the Clone Wars. Your mother died just after she gave birth, only living long enough to name you before passing on," he explained, wincing at the painful memory which haunted him to this day.

"What caused her to die?" Leia asked in a near whisper, somewhat confused because she was certain she remembered her real mother's face.

"Just after Anakin was killed defending the temple she was hit by a blaster pistol during our escape from some clones intent on killing us. It caused her to go into labor and there was nothing we could do to save her," Ben lied, knowing if the truth ever came out, all three of his companions would kill him. "She lived long enough to save you both, I'm sorry," he added.

"Why keep this to yourself?" Luke asked as he glanced at the devastated looks Leia and Ahsoka both shared. His own emotions were in uproar as well, but he just managed to keep himself together.

"As Anakin's children you are both extremely powerful in the Force and yes Leia, I believe you too could learn to use the Force," Ben answered, quickly noting Leia's surprised look at his statement. "The Emperor would have killed hundreds to possess Anakin's children as he was no ordinary Jedi. He was the center of a very old prophecy within the order which sadly failed to come true with his death," he explained. "We made sure to make it look that Padme died before she gave birth. It was agreed between all three of us that it was too dangerous to do otherwise," he paused as he remembered that final meeting with Yoda and Bail. "Yoda then decided it was best we split you up. Bail offered to adopt you Leia as he and your adoptive mother had always wanted a daughter, while I agreed to take Luke to live with Anakin's step brother and his wife," he continued. "We never met again after that, we considered it too dangerous," he finished.

"And you felt we wouldn't keep it to ourselves?" Leia asked as she tried to fight past the shock and the numbing pain she felt as she realized why she had never known her parents. Both had died during the war, and due to the choices of three people she had been separated from the only real family she had left.

"It was felt that keeping you ignorant of the truth would help protect you both in the long run, and seeing as you are both alive, we must have been correct in our choice," Ben told her, regaining some of his earlier confidence.

"You had no right," Ahsoka spat in distaste. "They should not have been separated, they are family, Anakin's family," she growled low in her throat. "But once more the council believed they know better than anyone else," she added.

"Ahsoka, the council had nothing to do with this. Apart from me and Yoda none of them, bar Shaak-Ti, survived order 66, and she had no contact with us when we made this choice," Ben assured her, seeing Ahsoka's grudge against the council for condemning her before she chose exile rear its head. That wouldn't help matters here. "We did what we thought was best," he assured her.

"And what would have happened should you have died and Luke and Leia decided maybe to start a relationship?" Ahsoka asked pointedly. "Or have you forgotten how people flung together can bond so quickly. Did you think about the repercussions for them should such a fate had befallen them?" she inquired, making all thee turn pale as they considered her questions. "No, you didn't, did you? Because Jedi are supposed to suppress their emotions so of course you ignored the dangers they could represent to Luke and Leia once they met," she hissed before someone interrupted them and they all turned to see Han Solo enter the clearing with his blaster drawn.

"Just thought you'd like to know the engine is fixed as best we can do. It should get us to Yavin," Han informed them. "Then it needs a complete overhaul," he added keeping his weapon aimed at Ahsoka. "Friend of yours?" he asked.

"Indeed, a very old one captain," Ben answered smoothly, grateful for the interruption as this conversation had gotten very uncomfortable for him. "She will be joining us. Now I suggest we leave and quickly, before they track us here," he suggested.

"Oh I will, will I?" Ahsoka asked, still glaring at Obi-Wan.

"Ahsoka, the Empire is tracking us, that space station can vaporize a planet and I have no doubt that that will happen to this one we are on right now due to our presence here," Ben stated with more confidence in his voice. "You can't stay, but if you do, you will die and for no good reason," he assured her. "Our meeting is no coincidence and you know it. It is the will of the Force. Now please we need to leave, we can continue our talk on the ship," he continued.

"Fine, let me collect a few things and then we can go," Ahsoka growled in annoyance, knowing the old man had a point. Leia followed Ahsoka, ignoring Ben's calls to come back. She intended to get a bit more information out of their new companion. She glanced at Luke as she passed and noted he like her, was still getting over all they had just learned. Her brother, her twin, it was so hard to believe and yet somewhere deep inside her she knew it was the truth.

"Don't take too long your highness, that flying death station has to be on its way and I have no plans to die here, not for you or anyone else," Han shouted after them.

"Is there anything else you forgot to tell us that we should know?" Luke inquired as they waited for Leia and Ahsoka.

Ben had to keep his face straight as Luke asked this question because there was a lot he hadn't said, but dared not tell them just yet: as it was, he felt the information they had already learned thanks to Ahsoka's prodding was dangerous enough. He had escaped that fate on the Falcon having been able to convince Master Harris not to tell Luke about his father only to now have it told by Ashoka, but at least she didn't know about Vader being Anakin like Harris did. They were still too young and inexperienced to handle it. He cursed as he realized he had mentioned the prophecy that had surrounded Anakin. Ahsoka's presence had rattled him. Glancing at Luke waiting for his response he could still see some of the same anger that once clouded Anakin's eyes, and that made him worry Luke could follow his father's path. He had to be more careful from this point onwards, he could ill afford to make the same mistakes he had with Anakin.

"No, nothing else Luke, just believe me that we had the best intentions," Ben finally responded.

Luke nodded in reply, but was uncertain whether he should believe him as readily as he would have done only moments before. Leia Organa was his sister; the princess of Alderaan was actually related to him, a simple farm boy from Tatoonie. It was mind boggling. Only five minutes later Leia and Ahsoka returned carrying two bags, clearly the former Jedi Padawan's camp had been close by.

"Let's go," Leia said as she all but stormed past the three of them. Her mind was going a mile a minute as she thought over some of what Ahsoka had said about her own potential to use the Force.

Han watched as the others followed, unsure about taking on another passenger. It seemed odd they would run into someone any of them knew on this deserted jungle planet. He did not like coincidences, but for now he decided to just follow as it was the only way he was going to get paid, and he needed the credits to pay of Jabba the Hutt. He quickly boarded the Falcon and closed the ramp as he felt the engines come back online. The sooner they reached Yavin the better off they would all be.

"Ok Chewie, let's get the hell out of here," Han said as he sat down and took the controls.

They soon exited the planet's atmosphere only to be greeted by the beeping of his sensors. He glanced at the scope and noted a big blip on it, which meant the space station was indeed following them.

"Hold on," he shouted as he hit the controls for hyperspace and was relieved when the Falcon instantly went faster than light without any problems. "That space station was just entering the system as we lifted off. My guess is you were right, princess, they are tracking us so I suggest when we land, you tell your people to get ready to evacuate," he said, turning around as Leia and Luke joined them in the cockpit. "It will take a miracle to find some way to defeat that thing with the sort of resources you have. You'll need a couple of Star Cruisers or even better, a couple of stolen Imperial Star Destroyers," he added.

"Except no one can just steal a Star Destroyer," Leia responded, knowing the space pirate was correct. "The best we have at the moment are light cruisers and our fighters," she admitted.

"You need better ships than that if you will have to have any hope of beating the Empire," Han told her calmly. "Granted you've pulled off some amazing victories and it has made the Rebellion more than just a random group of rebels. People are beginning to believe you can succeed where so many others failed, but only if you can equal the Empire in ships and manpower," he advised before halting as he realized he was getting drawn in and this was not his fight, so he turned away from the two.

"We'll find a weak spot Captain," Ben said as he joined them. "Of that you can be sure. All we need is the pilots and the Force to win the battle ahead," he stated with a calming smile.

"You are insane old man," Han shot back, causing Ben to chuckle as he took no offense. Even Chewbacca laughed as he knew what Jedi can do with the Force, having seen it during the war, but he knew his friend didn't believe in what he called hocus pocus.

"We might have bought ourselves some time by crashing on that planet. Surely due to the time we spent on it they might think it is the hidden base of the Rebellion," Luke suggested.

"More than likely they will just blow it to hell like they did with Alderaan," Han shot back, hoping to make the kid realize that in the real world most things went against the underdog.

Leia broke down at being reminded of what had happened to her world and even more importantly to her adoptive parents and people. Luke quickly took her in his arms to try and comfort her. At first Leia tried to pull away, but quickly gave up and cried on her newly revealed brother's shoulder. Luke gave Han a slight glare before guiding Leia into the back towards one of the bunks. Ben watched them go, concerned for Leia. The loss of her planet and her people had to be a grievous blow. He mourned the loss of Bail Organa the most. The man had been a true patriot right to the end. Ahsoka sat quietly, still trying to come to terms with not only learning that Anakin was truly dead, but that he had somehow had children with Padme at some point during the war and never told her.

+T+

(Yavin)

Xander gritted his teeth as he flew his fighter with all the speed it could muster towards the far moon, hoping to reach Ben and the others and warn them about the homing beacon Vader placed on the ship. But as he neared the planet he got a bad feeling that the others had not arrived yet. Somehow he had gotten here first if what he felt in the Force was anything to go by, but how was that possible? Unless they had run into more trouble on the way here, they should have arrived before him. He let out a curse. 'Great,' he thought. Clearly the Force was pushing for this confrontation for some reason and he didn't like that one bit. He was quickly challenged as he came close to the base. He had to talk fast to stop them trying to blast him out of the sky. 'Oh this is going to be fun,' he thought, after all he was flying a TIE-Fighter variant.

+T+

(Death Star)

Vader frowned as the station neared the planet the Falcon had just left. He felt a powerful surge in the Force. It was beyond anything he had felt before, something had happened to the rebels on that planet that had changed events as they stood. He tried to see into the future, but all he saw was darkness. Crossing his arms over his chest he wondered what Kenobi was up to. He still felt the rage of having been denied the pleasure of finally taking his revenge on the old man. He still wondered if the other Jedi had told the truth about who he was. The Emperor had once claimed to know the secret to stopping death and prolonging life, but he knew now he had lied and had used that claim to make him more willing to fall to the dark side to save Padme's life.

"Ready the main battery captain and fire when ready. This planet may have some connection to the Rebellion and we can take no chances that anyone survives our attack," Tarkin ordered to a nearby Imperial who nodded.

"We are too late, whoever was on that planet has left in the Falcon," Vader stated.

"Still better safe than sorry, and the more planets we destroy, the more fear we will instill in the populace," Tarkin responded with a dark and evil smile. "We will prove this station is the ultimate weapon," he swore.

Vader shook his head, unconvinced as he knew the Force was far more powerful than this poultry space station. He remained quiet and let the man keep his delusions as he watched as the planet was blown into bits after the laser had hit it.

"Target destroyed sir," the captain reported.

"Excellent, resume following the Falcon with best possible speed," Tarkin ordered, fully confident that the Death Star would prove the end of the Rebellion.

+T+

(Yavin)

Han smirked as they exited hyperspace right over Yavin and plotted a straight course right to the moon on its far side where the hidden base was stationed. He glanced at Chewie and noted the big Wookiee looked relieved they had made it.

"We've arrived," he shouted into the back, causing Leia to come back out. The smuggler noted her eyes were still somewhat red from crying. She picked up the comm relay and spoke into it quickly, sprouting a code which Han suspected would allow them to land.

"Take us in captain, we've been cleared," Leia said once she put the comm back down. "Once we are down you can repair your ship fully while your reward is gathered," she added before quickly turning and exiting the cockpit.

Han watched her go and could not help but admire her spirit. He quickly regained his focus and brought the ship down towards the hidden base. "We'll have to work quickly, Chewie. I do not want to be on this moon when that space station gets here," he said quietly to his friend, who roared in agreement.

Once they landed they quickly exited the Falcon and split up. R2 and C3PO were taken to the computer room to download the specs of the Death Star. Leia led Ben and Ahsoka to the command room to discuss options, leaving Luke to wander around while Han and Chewie began to inspect the damage to the Falcon. Leia paused at the exit of the hangar and glanced back at Luke as he looked at the X-Wing fighters. She suddenly had a foreboding feeling about how this battle would turn out. Luke caught her eyes and gave her a small smile which she returned before she turned and exited the room. She would send one of her people to get Luke some quarters and get a fighter prepped for him. Luke had insisted on being part of the attack on the Death Star, much to her worry.

"He'll be fine," Ahsoka assured her with a grin. "Anakin was the best fighter pilot there was, and if Luke has inherited that skill nothing will stop him," she added having noted Leia's worried gaze. Leia nodded and hoped the other woman was right. She dared not think of losing her twin brother after only knowing him for a day. They were shocked when they ran straight into Xander leaning against the open door leading to the command center. He looked grim.

"I take it you know about the homing beacon?" he inquired as he pushed himself off the door.

"Of course, we're not stupid," Leia responded, still feeling angry at been kept in the dark about her true origins and worried about the battle to come. She passed him without another comment, leaving Xander somewhat confused.

"Before you ask, it's a long story," Ben said, cutting Xander off before he could say anything. "And we have bigger things to worry about," he added. Xander nodded but his eyes remained pinned on Ahsoka who glared at him in response. He knew who she was and after confronting Vader on the Death Star he didn't like the fact that his former Padawan had suddenly shown up to join them. Ahsoka Tano was far too much like Anakin Skywalker for him to be comfortable having her involved in this, but he decided to remain quiet for now. He would talk to her first before deciding anything.

+T+

(Yavin, Massassi temple, pilot's ready room)

Biggs Darklighter just closed the door to their ready room as he heard the voice of his commanding officer cursing loudly in Corellian. He went further into the room and as he saw his friend sitting behind a desk and slamming a datapad onto it, he said, "What's up boss?"

The man looked up and at seeing him he smiled a bit. "The usual Biggs, insane orders by the higher ups. I just got the order to assign one of our X-Wing's to a farm boy who's only flown speeders and swoops so far."

"And? Just put him into one of the simulators and see if he is ready to fly an X-Wing. If he fails, you can use that to refuse the order. How does that sound, Wedge?" Biggs said to his old friend

Wedge looked up at that and smiled. "That is actually a good idea. Let's go and see if this boy is any good." With those words he stood up, turned to one of his pilots and said, "Garan, go fetch the farm boy who came with the princess and bring him to the simulators."

Then he turned around and left the room, sure Biggs would follow him.

A few moments later Garan reached the simulator with his charge. "Sir, here we are as ordered."

"Good," Wedge replied and then turned to Luke. "Are you ready to show us if you are up to pilot a star fighter?"

Before Luke could reply, Biggs came from behind a simulator he'd just programmed for the test. At seeing the 'Farm boy' he said, "Luke?"

"Biggs?" Luke replied. "I thought you were in the Imperial Academy?"

Biggs quickly went over to him and then after he gave him a manly hug replied, "I was for a while, but after seeing what went on there I decided to follow Wedge here out. After a while we ended up with this bunch here."

"You two know each other?" Wedge asked, surprised.

"Yeah, Luke here and my cousin Gavin were always following me around and terrorizing me. I never had a quiet moment for myself when those two pests were around," he replied with a smile.

"Hey," Luke complained. "We weren't that bad."

At a raised eyebrow by Biggs he smiled and added, "Ok, maybe we were following the big bad hero around a bit."

Biggs smiled again and then turned to Wedge and said, "Just give him the fighter. He can fly it."

"What?" Wedge replied, even more surprised. "You sure?"

Biggs nodded and then said, "If anyone can fly a fighter, Luke sure is the one. Even when he was just six year old, he was already better at piloting everything we had around than everyone."

Trusting his pilot Wedge threw a small data chip to Luke and said, "Here, for your fighter. A training session for us all won't hurt though. Get ready for a match."

With those words every pilot in the room got ready for the sim run.

+T+

(Yavin, Massassi temple, room assigned to Asoka)

Asoka was hovering a few inches above the ground, mediating as she felt in the Force that a visitor was only a few steps away from her door. With a small Force push she hit the button for the door which swished open instantly. Before the door stood the man that had met them before. Only now she felt the Force in him. Looking up she said, "So another Jedi survived the purge?"

"Indeed. Mind if I join you? There are a few things we should talk about, that you need to know if you want to join us," the Jedi said.

+T+

A few hours after they reached the Yavin system the Death Star dropped out of hyperspace and went on its approach course to the red planet Yavin.

Inside the control room Grand Moff Tarkin and Lord Vader were interrupted in their discussion by the buzz of the comlink. "Yes?" Tarkin barked into his comlink.

"We are approaching the planet Yavin. The Rebel base is on a moon on the far side. We are preparing to orbit the planet," a voice replied over the comm.

+T+

(Inside the Massassi temple, War room)

Dodonna stood before a large electronic wall display and was talking to Master Harris and Master Kenobi while the low-ceilinged room filled up with starfighter pilots, navigators, soldiers and several R2-type droids. As everyone had found a place to sit, they quieted down, and Dodonna, Master Harris and Master Kenobi stopped their talk. Then the Masters Harris and Obi-Wan stepped forward. "If I may introduce us for a moment? Most of you won't know who we are, but a few will at least know my fellow Master. This is Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, former General of the old Republic army, and I am Master Alexander Harris."

At seeing the surprised looks on the people's faces, especially the younger ones, he continued, "Yes you heard right, there are still a few Jedi around and now the time has come for us to join you in your fight against the Empire. Before I will give you over to General Dodonna, who will explain what will await us in the near future, let me also introduce our fellow Jedi," with that he pointed at the woman who just entered the room and continued, " Jedi Master Ashoka Tanu."


	5. Chapter 5

Notes: My thanks again to Razial and Inachis for their help with this chapter. Also my thanks to all who pointed out the chicken problem (laugh)in the last chapter as well as my misspelling of Miss Tano.

Chapter 5

(Inside the Massassi temple, War room) 

Obi-Wan looked at Master Harris, surprised at his announcement of Ahsoka as a Jedi Master, but he didn't say anything for the moment. He waited until the room had quieted down again and General Dodonna started with the briefing, then he turned to his fellow Jedi and asked quietly, "Jedi Master?"

Harris smiled at him and nodded. "Yes. I had quite the long talk with Miss Tano to see what she had done since she went into her exile."

"Hid on the planet we found her on, I would guess," Obi-Wan shrugged.

Harris shook his head. "No, actually she only arrived on that planet a few hours before you did. She was searching for a Holocron she believed to be hidden there."

"A Holocron?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes, since leaving the Order she has traveled the galaxy to learn about the Force and has become quite the competent healer, among other things. I considered this to be her trials and promoted her to the rank of a Jedi Knight and because she has also been teaching and hiding quite a few force sensitives that she found on her travels, I granted her the rank of a Master," Xander explained.

"Without consulting me?" Obi-Wan asked, a bit annoyed. This reminded him far too much of Anakin's quick promotion to the council at the prompting of the Emperor. It had not done much for curbing Anakin's growing arrogance and he doubted it would do much for Ahsoka's determined belief in her own view of events, such as letting Luke and Leia know about their family connections over his protestations.

"Yes, after all I've been a Master for a bit longer than you have, and having been the Grand Master of the Order here and there, I still have the right to promote or even demote a Jedi as I see fit," Xander said.

"But you aren't the current Grand Master of the Order," Obi-Wan replied. "Yoda is," he added.

With a smile at the younger man Xander responded, "Actually, I am. While the last Grand Master of the Order, Master Yoda is in exile or dead. I, as the oldest Master and former Grand Master, am currently the acting Grand Master until a council of at least six Masters vote for a new head of the order or Master Yoda steps up to take up his responsibilities again."

Before Obi-Wan could reply anything to that, Ashoka finally reached them. She nodded in greeting at both of them and then said quietly, "Maybe you two should keep your voices down a bit. General Dodonna has had to wait on you a few times by now."

Feeling like children caught stealing a cookie out of their mum's kitchen jar, both men nodded and the followed the rest of the briefing given by the General.

Finally the General finished with the words. "Man your ships. And may the Force be with you."

While the pilots and other soldiers left the room, the Jedi, the Princess and the General stayed back. Once the last of the soldiers had left the room Ahsoka looked at the General and asked, "So while your pilots and their technicians prepare for that crazy attack, which Anakin would have loved by the way, what are your other plans? I didn't see any preparations for an evacuation."

Sharing a glance with Obi-Wan about the hidden irony behind the Anakin bit in her words, Xander nodded. "That is actually a good question."

Dodonna shrugged. "We currently don't have the ships for a full evacuation. We are putting all non essential personnel on all shuttles we have and transferring them to the few hidden ships we have in the system. But that isn't nearly enough, so we're trying to keep it quiet. For all of us to see another day we have to hope that the pilots can actually do what they must."

Xander cursed a bit in Huttese and then said, "Ok, if we survive this I can get a few ships to help with the evacuation because this base is done for. Either the moon will be shot to hell and back or the Empire will know of this base and will send a whole fleet to pound the place to pieces."

After they left the war room Xander turned to Ahsoka and Obi-Wan. "Let's go to the hangar, the TIE I stole from the Death Star should be just big enough for us three."

"You want to leave?" Ahsoka asked, surprised, having thought he would want to stick around and fight. Her own instinct was to fight just as it would have been for Anakin, but she knew she couldn't act on her own interests right now.

"We have to get those ships I promised. Ideally I would prefer a few more Jedi to help with that, but we are the only three around. So sadly we can only get three ships here, but that should be enough," Xander replied.

Obi-Wan looked at Xander in surprise. "Why do you need a Jedi to get the ships?"

Xander smiled before he replied. "Why don't I let you discover that for yourself?" And without a further word he hurried to the hangar.

+T+

While the Death Star began to move around the planet toward the tiny green moon Tarkin and Vader were watching the screen with interest. Suddenly a voice over the intercom spoke, "The moon with the Rebel base will be in range in thirty minutes."

"This will be a day long remembered. It will soon see the end of the Rebellion," Vader said however a small part of him doubted that that would be what would happen. He had many memories of victories being pulled off by smaller forces against greater odds, most of them by forces he himself had led. The force and no small amount of luck could tip even the most assured victory. The question was would the Rebellion be able to find some way of damaging the Death Star through the stolen plans?

Without taking his eyes from the screen Tarkin only nodded in reply and smiled to himself, knowing that the crushing of the Rebellion would cement his place as 2nd in command of the whole Empire even more and keep Vader under his thumb.

+T+

(Massassi Outpost, Hangar Deck)

Luke, C3-PO and the little R2 unit entered the huge spaceship hangar of the temple and hurried along a long line of gleaming space fighters. While flight crews rushed around doing a lot of the last minutes things that always seem to have to be, done they found Han and Chewbacca in a small isolated part of the hangar, loading small boxes onto a sled.

Before Luke could say something a loud male voice spoke over the speaker system. "All pilots, man your stations. All pilots, man your stations."

Han was deliberately ignoring the activity of the pilots' preparations and continued loading the crates.

"So, you got your reward and you're just leaving then?" Luke asked with a sad voice. Even in the short time he had known Han, the man had grown on him.

"That's right kid. I got some old debts I've got to pay off with this stuff. It is never wise to let a slimy Hutt wait too long if you don't want to have a huge bounty on your head. But even if I didn't, you don't think I'd be fool enough to stick around here, do you? Why don't you come with us? You're pretty good in a fight. I could use you."

Getting angry Luke took a deep breath and used the meditation techniques Master Kenobi and Harris had shown him to calm himself. After he had calmed down again he said, "Why don't you take a look around? You know what's about to happen, what we're up against. We could use a good pilot like you. You're turning your back on us."

"Us?" Han asked.

"Yes, I signed up with the Rebellion this morning," Luke replied with a proud smile. "I stand with my sister," he added, feeling a sense of peace fill him as he continued to get used to the knowledge he still had family. Family even more closely related to him than his now deceased Aunt and Uncle, who he still mourned.

"Good for you kid, crazy, but what do I expect from a force monk?" Han said with humor in his tone and then added, "Family is family I guess but still I think you're nuts. Besides, what good is a reward if you aren't around to use it? Attacking that battle station isn't my idea of courage. It's more like suicide."

"All right. Well, take care of yourself, Han. I guess that's what you're best at, isn't it?" Luke said with some annoyance in his voice. Then he turned around and spotting his Master and the other two Jedi heading for Master Harris' TIE and he walked into their direction.

While Luke went off, Han hesitated for a moment and then called to him. "Hey, Luke... May the Force be with you!"

Luke turned his head for a moment and seeing Han wink at him, he lifted his hand in a small wave and then continued on his way. Han watched the kid walk away feeling a bang of guilt at not helping out, but he had long sworn off causes like the Rebellion. He had already learned there was little he could do to change the universe, he'd tried and all he had been able to do was rescue Chewbacca while the other Wookiees he had intended to set free had been recaptured or killed. The kid would learn just how futile it was to fight the Empire. Glancing at his friend he noted his co-pilot didn't share his opinion on this matter but did not argue his choice.

+T+

(At Xander's TIE Defender)

Luke reached the TIE just as Xander, Obi-Wan and Ashoka wanted to board the ship. He nodded at the three masters and then said, "Masters? Are you sure you don't want to join the battle?"

Obi-Wan looked at his young Padawan for a moment then replied, "Luke, our part in this battle doesn't lie in a direct attack. That will be your part and that of your fellow pilots. We will gather some means to evacuate this base easier after you have dealt with that small moon. Just remember, do not rely only on your instruments but trust in the Force to help guide you and everything will play out as it should."

Xander smiled at that and added. "And also trust in your fellow pilots. The Force and those friends are everything you will need to keep you all alive. So may the Force be with you, young Padawan."

Ahsoka, hating to leave before a fight but knowing she had to, simply nodded at him and said, "May the Force be with you." With those words the three Jedi entered the ship and only moments later the ship pulled slowly up. After it had left the hangar it vanished up into the sky with the powering up of its engines.

Luke waited for a moment longer before he took a deep breath and then turned around. It was time for him to get ready himself.

+T+

(Main hangar deck - Luke's X-Wing)

Only a few minutes later Luke sat in his X-Wing and was doing a few last moment checks as Leia and General Dodonna came to his fighter.

"What's wrong?" Leia asked, seeing the sad impression on her brother's face. The fact he was her brother was still slowly sinking in, but now she knew the truth she feared losing him so soon after finding him. Seeing him dejected made her sad. She would do what she could to cheer him up before he left to do battle.

"Oh, it's Han! I don't know, I really thought he'd change his mind," Luke replied a moment later after he finished his last check.

"He's got to follow his own path. No one can choose it for him," Leia replied as she quickly understood the problem. If she was honest she had thought so as well, but she would never admit it.

Luke smiled a bit at the annoyance in his sister's tone. It looked like she liked Han a bit more than she wanted to admit and wasn't too happy about him leaving either. "I only wish Ben and the others would stay here. They would be a lot of help."

Leia climbed up the ladder to his cockpit and gave her brother a little kiss on the side of his face. "Their part is important as well. I just hope Master Harris really can get what he promised or we may end up winning only to be caught trying to escape."

Luke smiled at that. "I haven't known him for long, but I've the feeling that when Master Harris promises something, he will keep it." he told her. "Be safe sister," he added as he started his final preparations to take off.

Leia smiled at him and felt real warmth at his final words. "Be safe my brother," she responded as a last goodbye before she descended the ladder and turned around and cleared the hangar area, joining the General in the control room to follow the events there. Before she left she turned and looked back at her brother's fighter. A sense of fear descended on her for Luke before a light hand brought her back to reality and she turned to find her long-time friend Winter watching her with a concerned expression on her face.

"Are you okay Leia?" Winter inquired as she glanced in the direction the Princess was looking. "Who is that, that you would show such concern for him?" she asked a second later as she noted how uneasy her friend was.

"Would you believe he is my twin brother? I just found out a while ago," Leia answered as she watched Luke's fighter line up. She turned to her friend and noted the shell shocked expression on her face. She almost giggled as she realized that she probably looked the same when she was told the truth.

"Are you kidding?" Winter couldn't help but ask.

"No I am not, he is my brother, my own twin who I never knew existed, but my parents did and so did General Kenobi and Yoda. They all decided to keep the truth from us both," Leia explained, still angered by their decision to deny her the knowledge she had actual blood kin.

Winter could detect the underlying anger in her friend's tone and understood why it was there if what she said was true. She did not like to think of Leia being angry at Bail Organa and his wife Breha, especially as they like most of the Alderaan population were now dead thanks to the Death Star's attack on their planet.

"They must have had good reasons for their choice Leia, don't hate them for it. Instead try and understand why they made it," she finally advised, gaining Leia's full attention.

"I will in time, for now I prefer to be angry," Leia replied as she contemplated her friend's words. "It helps in keeping my worry for him under control, or I would not let him go out there to fight," she admitted.

Winter nodded and then after a short pause guided Leia into the control center where General Dodonna waited with the rest of the high command of the rebellion's armed forces. This was the moment of truth for them all. Either they would all perish or a miracle would happen and they would win. If they failed to win, the Empire would continue to dominate the galaxy, but if they won, then it was possible they could in time bring peace and sanity back to the universe.

While Luke concentrated on the launch preparations, the crew chief, who was watching over some last minute workings on Luke's craft, pointed to little R2D2 being hoisted into a socket on the back of the fighter. "This R2 unit of yours seems to be a bit beaten up. Do you want a new one?"

"Not on your life! That little droid and I have been through a lot together," Luke replied with a smile and then turning to the small droid asked "Are you okay, R2?"

After the crewmen had lowered the R2 unit into the craft the little droid beeped that he was fine; after all this was not the first time it had been into battle.

While Luke was putting on his flight helmet, C3-PO looked on from the floor of the massive hangar as the crewmen secured his little electronic partner into Luke's X-wing. "Hang on tight, R2D2, you've got to come back," the golden droid said.

R2D2 beeped in agreement.

+T+

(A while later in the war room)

The princess, C3-PO, and a field commander sat quietly before the giant display showing the planet Yavin and its four moons. The red dot that represented the Death Star moved closer to the system and a series of green dots appeared around the fourth moon.

While they watched the screens a voice over the intercom said, "Stand-by alert. The Death Star is approaching. Estimated time to firing range, fifteen minutes."

+T+

(In space)

The Death Star slowly moved behind the massive yellow surface of Yavin in the foreground, as many X-Wing fighters were flying in formation toward it.

+T+

(Unchartered System)

The space around the small asteroid had been empty for years as suddenly a small blip appeared on the scanners of the small base build into the rock. A set of eyes glowed up yellow and then the sound of mechanical feet was heard. A few moments later a voice spoke into a com unit. "Statement: You are violating a restricted flight zone. Prepare to be killed or identify yourself as being someone who is allowed to be here. I hope you choose the first option."

In the small ship that had appeared inside this solar system two people looked at each other in surprise while the third had a small smile on his face. He had to pull himself out of some old memories at hearing that voice again, falling into a memory now would only lead to being shot down. He took a breath and then spoke into the com unit. "Sorry for having to disappoint you HK. Identification: Jedi Master Harris, Alexander Lavelle. Security Code: Sunnydale1998ScobbiesGilesWillowBuffyXanderWatcherHackerSlayerandMe."

After a moment of quiet the voice from the droid spoke again. "Disappointed Statement: Identification and Security Code correct. You are granted full access Master Harris. Welcome back. My systems tell me you were last here 122 years ago. Hopeful Query: Is it time for a hunt again, are we going to kill some Sith spawn?"

"It seems so HK. Please prepare the hangar for landing and start powering up the Duncan, Methos and Connor," Xander said, with a smile on his face at mentioning those names. A reference to a TV-Series he still remembered from his time on Earth.

"Statement: As you wish Master. The hangar is ready for you to land," HK replied.

At those words the three Jedi saw a piece of the asteroid disappear and some lights going on. Without further words Xander directed the TIE into the hangar.

As the three Jedi left the ship HK already awaited them.

"I don't believe it, it really is an old HK-51 unit. I didn't even know there were still some around. I only read about them in my studies at the temple," Ahsoka said, stunned.

The yellow eyes seemed to glow even more as the droid looked at her. "Query: Master, can I shoot her for comparing me to those inferior 51 units?"

"Sorry HK. We might still need her," Xander replied with a grin. "If I might introduce you to each other? These are Jedi Masters Kenobi and Tano and this is an old companion of mine, HK-47. He is keeping watch over this stronghold for me."

"HK-47? Weren't you the droid of Revan?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Statement: Thanks the maker, some meatbag who remembers the past. You are correct Master Kenobi," the droid replied.

"So Master Harris really knew Revan?" Obi-Wan couldn't help to ask.

"Statement: That is correct. Master Revan and Master Harris are old friends," HK answered.

"Are?" Ashoka asked.

"Correct," HK replied without explaining further.

"Are you suggesting Revan is alive as well?" Obi-Wan inquired with alarm.

"It depends on your point of view meat bag," HK responded as his eyes glowed yellow, making Obi-Wan very uneasy as Xander smirked behind his back.


End file.
